Flying KLM with a peanut allergy
Flying KLM with a peanut allergy is a breeze, but flying KLM with an almond or tree nut allergy is another story. Peanut allergy awareness/consciousness has taken airlines by storm as more and more airlines are eliminating peanuts from their onboard service. The trouble with this is airlines have to find another snack to replace the peanuts, which means pretzels or almonds now take centre stage. Great for peanut allergy folks, but not so great if you have other allergies such as tree nuts or sesame. KLM has gone peanut free, however they are not allergy free.
Before you fly with any airline, it is 100% recommended to check out their allergy policy. Before booking with KLM I read that they serve almonds on their flights, they are fully transparent about it. So it was up to me to decide if I would be comfortable knowing that all the passengers would be eating almonds at the same time. Since I am ok with people eating almonds around me, we decided to fly KLM.
How I handled a plane full of almond eaters
Knowing that people would be consuming almonds, I was able to prepare myself both mentally and physically. I super cleaned my space, covered my skin, and had a big scarf to cover my chair. The smell of the almonds was intense because they were smoked, but otherwise, it was ok. After the almonds were served they handed out wet toilettes for people to wipe their hands. How awesome, eh! This created a great sense of relief knowing that my contact with almonds was going to be further minimised.
Other allergen-containing food served on KLM
Honestly, the fact that KLM was so open with their allergy policy I was comfortable flying with them. The only other red flag that came up was they served ice cream as a snack, so if you have a contact dairy allergy, this may be something to look out for.
I did not eat anything that they provided; this is not a risk an allergy person should take. I did peak at the food, and although they do not include the ingredient list, they do provide an allergy warning for the top 14 allergens.
Even though they do serve tree nuts, I would fly with KLM again. Have you flown with them? I would love to know in the comments below or leave a review on Allergy Travels 😀
Hi, i am allergic to peanut, treenut, sesame, soy, fish, and more other food, I developed anaphilaxis reaction. As I have to travel by plane in a couple of months fron Argentina to Spain, for firt time getting on a plane with my allergies, I am so afraid, how can you advice me to get a better fly? Thanks, my first reaction was 5 months ago so Im new
Hi Candela,
Sounds like you are making a long trip! How fun. What airline are you flying with?
The first thing I do to settle any nerves is to check if the airline has a policy. If they have a policy that allows me to contact them about my allergy I do.
I take an antihistamine before flying – this is what my doctor recommended. I suggest you talk to your allergist about what the right steps are for you and whether it makes sense for you to take something – remember every body is different and what I do may not be the right steps for you. Otherwise the biggies are to bring your own food. I always pack twice as much food as I think I would need (in case of delays) and I only pack food I have eaten at least three times since I don’t want too take any chances. I bring lots of wipes and clean down my whole seat area. I also wear a hoodie, a big scarf, and long pants. This adds an extra layer between me and any leftover allergy-dust.
Here is more details in a post I wrote about Flying with Easyjet with a Peanut Allergy. And here is one more from Allergy Travels about how to fly safely with food allergies.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Happy travels!
-Kortney
Thank you very much, i have not buy the ticket yet, first I want to talk to several airlines to decide wich is better, the thing is that we are moving to live from Argentina to Spain, so is going to be stressful, I have to be very carefull
Hi Cande,
How exciting! I found KLM to be a good airline to fly with. They have been accommodating on more than one occasion. Just make sure that you know who is operating the flight. We booked with KLM but flew back Air France, which I did not realise until we booked. Good luck on your move.
Cheers,
Kortney
Hi! Thank you for this post! Super helpful.
My pleasure! Happy travels 😀